Jonas, How would you describe you smash action in the intial phase after the 'ready' position (racquet held up, shoulders rotated)? Do you pull the racquet head backwards and then swing forward? Or do you just relax the arm, with the racquet dropping backwards under influence of gravity, and then swing forward with the arm?
I've been looking at this post for a while now and I'm wondering..."Will this post ever be answered?" I'm also interested...
Smash Technique!! Sorry for the late answer!! First of all, my movement is very important. Positioning myself a little behind the shuttle and jumping forward into the shuttle is required for the great smash. When I first started working on my smash/jump smash technique I tried picturing myself looking like a bow with an arrow. My body is the bow shooting the arrow, shuttle. Try to get your arm as far behind your head as possible at the same time. Then you´ll end up having a great smash. When this is said there is a lot of different techniques concerning smashes, but I think getting your power from the rotation is likewise important to create the kind of powersmash you want. Hope this will do otherwise let me know what you want to know!! Jonas
Flexibility Jonas, I understand the part of initial preparation with body acting like a bow. The crucial moment is when the arm reaches behind the shoulder before the explosive upward lift to strike the shuttle. My experience tells me that having relaxed shoulder muscles is extremely important in order to generate power. What do you do to stretch your shoulder? What special stretching exercise do you do to allow your arm reach as far back as possible?
Thanks Jonas, In fact, I had a misinterpretation of the bow and arrow analogy. There is the look of the position of the bow and arrow. Unfortunately, in my younger days, I also thought this meant that a person should have tension in the arm just like the bow when drawing the string. As a result, for many years, I had a very stiff action for overhead shots. Later, I learnt to relax (very difficult) and my smash got better. Any thoughts on that? Maybe it might help other players who also unwittingly also use a lot of strength in pulling back the racquet to get to the 'bow and arrow' position.
Relax Yes! It´s very important to relax just up to the point you hit the shuttle because you can create more power and deception this way. This goes for every kind of shot on a badmintoncourt. If you can time your shots right between relaxation and tensing the arm it´s the best way to play. Very difficult to do it all the time. I think asian players are very good at this. If it doesn´t work try to visualize yourself being relaxed and when you hit the shuttle your muscles try to "kill" the shuttle. You can do this starting with exercises. When you´re training smashes give yourself just one moment before you start practising the stroke to go through your inner pictures of how you want to hit the shuttle and then do the exercise. Kind Regards Jonas